SOPA and PIPA

This is not directly related to LabVIEW but it I wanted everyone to be aware of something that could significantly change this and all software forums as we know them today. I was going to post this on Breakpoint but I wanted more people to see it so please forgive me.

I was reading this thread about copyrights on Lava andAristos Queue posted a very scary scenario on what could happen should SOPA become law. (That is a link to Wikipedia which will be down globally later today in protest of these laws)

Basically what happens now is if someone posts copyrighted code to this forum, that person is legally liable. The owner of the copyright can sue that person and order NI to take down the offending content. This applies to VIs, snippets, screenshots, etc. If SOPA becomes law then NI would have to inspect any code posted and determine if it is being legally posted. If someone illegally posts another persons copyrighted code and someone downloads it then NI would be legally liable. It would no longer be practical for this forum to exist. Same for any forum that allows file attachments.

Here is a good list of reasons why you should oppose SOPA and PIPA. What can you do? This is probably fatalistic but I don't have a good feeling about the future.

Re: SOPA and PIPA

This fight has been going on for a long time. I had submitted electronic letters to my congressman. A lot of good those did since the entertainment industry's lobbying efforts have deep monetary reserves and politicians' pockets are quite sticky. The only "victory" that has happened is that the DNS filtering has been taken off the table. That was one of the primary contentions of the bill. Some argue that the reason they did that was to make a veto from the White House less likely. If the bills passed as is, given what the White House said over the weekend, they were likely to be vetoed. However, the MPAA came out saying they intend to reintroduce the DNS blocking in the future, so they haven't given up.

I just find the whole web-blocking pure hypocrisy. Here we are decrying China for blocking access to sites for political reasons, and these bills are doing what, again? Oh yeah. The same thing. Well, it's OK, I guess because we know what we're doing.

As for the blackout, I have my doubts as to how effective it will be. Time and again it's been shown that unless it costs Americans money, they won't care. Twitter reversed its intention and is no longer participating.

Re: SOPA and PIPA

36 years ago i raised my right hand and swore as God as my witness that I would defend the constitution of the Untited States.

The authority to set-up and accept the Constitution was derived from teh Declaration of Independence that reads in part;

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.--

emphesis and font size adjusted by me.

There is a part of me telling me that it is time to rise and fullfil the oath I swore.

That sweet lady I swore to defend is being defiled by those that claim to represent her.

Re: SOPA and PIPA

If the bills passed as is, given what the White House said over the weekend, they were likely to be vetoed. However, the MPAA came out saying they intend to reintroduce the DNS blocking in the future, so they haven't given up.

They are gradually increasing the water temperature to a boil so that the frog does not jump out before it is too late. The camel is sticking it's head under the tent and soon will take the whole thing over.

Re: SOPA and PIPA

Contact your representatives. It is very easy to do and you can do it RIGHT NOW http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:CongressLookup. Just enter your zipcode and you will find an online contact form for your representatives. Just a simple "I wish to express my sincere opposition to the SOPA and PIPA bills" is all it takes. One ant cannot build an anthill, and one ant's contribution does not add much at all, but together they can. One grain of sand does not make a mountain but you can make a mountain with enough grains of sand. If you enjoy online communities such as this then do your part! One soldier cannot win a war but given enough of them wars such as this can be won.

Re: SOPA and PIPA

Google's logo is blacked out... Wikipedia's doing their thing... Two of the motorcycle forums i'm on are shut down for the day... I yanked all my pics and replaced them with an oppose-sopa-pipa image...Wired's "censored"...

Certainly generating a lot of buzz on the internet, looks like support for the bills are fading fast... hell, even Rubio, a Florida senator who co-sponsored the bill, is questioning it now.

Re: SOPA and PIPA

Indeed! Believe it or not but these politicians actually do not want to piss you off. They don't do a very good job of that as evidenced by the 11% approval rating but they do want and need your vote. Maybe the reason they have such horrible approval ratings is because people sit and whine to everyone but them. I think that with feedback their approval ratings will climb.

So if you have not taken three minutes to express to your representative your opposition to these bills !!!! DO IT NOW !!!!